Amid all the Horror, There Were Some Slivers of Good News Last Night

While the 59.6 million Americans who voted for Hillary Clinton are reeling from the Democratic nominee’s shocking loss to Donald Trump, there were a few signs of hope for weary liberals. For one, Clinton still won the popular vote, edging out Trump by about 200,000 votes, as of Wednesday afternoon. So while large numbers of Democrats ultimately stayed on Election Day, handing the nation’s highest office to an untested and erratic real-estate developer, the Obama coalition remains nominally intact, if clustered in the wrong states. And while the G.O.P. now has control of both the White House and Congress, Democrats still made incremental gains in the House and Senate, presaging further midterm gains in 2018 and the possibility of retaking the legislative branch if voters are unhappy with Trump in two years’ time.

Even if Democrats failed to retake the Senate this time around, they gained a few rising stars who could become formidable counterweights to Trump in the coming years, and even potential presidential contenders down the line. Rep. Tammy Duckworth defeated Republican incumbent Senator Mark Kirk in the Illinois Senate race, becoming the first Thai-American and the first disabled woman to serve in the Senate. Duckworth, a military veteran who lost both her legs in the Iraq War, has quickly become a political heavyweight on Capitol Hill. Now, as an incoming senator, her voice will be even more critical as Democrats seek to check Trump’s power.

In California, Attorney General Kamala Harris also won her Senate race, replacing outgoing Senator Barbara Boxer and becoming the second black woman to join the Upper Chamber. The seat was always going to go blue, thanks to a ballot initiative adopted in California that adopted a “jungle primary” in state elections, but it was a historic night nonetheless for the 52-year-old prosecutor.

Voters also approved progressive ballot initiatives across the country, with four states voting to raise the minimum wage. The particularly stressed were likely happy to learn that marijuana was legalized in several states—recreationally in California, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada, and medically in North Dakota, Arkansas, and Florida. Gun control won several victories on Tuesday, too: Californians voted to ban large-capacity ammunition magazines and beefed up background check laws; Nevada approved a proposal to require background checks on gun sales and trades; and Washington State gave judges the power to temporarily seize guns from individuals deemed a threat.

Alabama: Judy Carns

“We’ve been in politics for a long time and we keep sending people to Washington to make a difference and we don’t do that much changing. I just said, ‘This guy’s got what we need.’”

Photo: Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Alaska: Jerry Ward, 68

Photo: Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Arizona: Russ Clark, 57

“We need to unify. It needs to be done regardless of the 17 choices that you had going into the whole thing.”

Photo: Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Arkansas: Bob Ballinger, 42

Photo: Photograph by Justin Bishop.

West Virginia: Michael Baisden, 66

“My hat is my hard hat from work. That’s actually coal dust . . . I wore it for about 16 years in a coal mine. Whenever a sticker would get scratched I wouldn’t remove it, I’d just cover it with another. It probably weighs about 10 pounds more than it should but it’s my hard hat. . . . There’s probably a thousand dollars’ worth of stickers on that hat if you go through all the layers. I used to sell heavy equipment in the mining industry. It became [that] there was no return on my investment. I couldn’t make any money because of the downturn in the coal-mining industry, so I’m not doing that anymore.”

Photo: Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Wisconsin: Jim Miller, 41

Photo: Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Wyoming: Timothy Bendel, 47

Photo: Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Alabama: Judy Carns

“We’ve been in politics for a long time and we keep sending people to Washington to make a difference and we don’t do that much changing. I just said, ‘This guy’s got what we need.’”

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Alaska: Jerry Ward, 68

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Arizona: Russ Clark, 57

“We need to unify. It needs to be done regardless of the 17 choices that you had going into the whole thing.”

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Arkansas: Bob Ballinger, 42

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

California: Samantha Schwab, 20

“I’ve always been a Republican. I’m a huge Trump supporter as well. This is the first election where I can actually vote, so my first time at a convention and the first time I’ve really been involved in an election.”

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Colorado: Justin Everett, 45

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Connecticut: Benjamin Proto, 57

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Delaware: Richard Forsten, 53

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Florida: Gay Hart Gaines

“I’ve been to many conventions but the first time I’ve been a delegate. I wanted so badly to be a delegate. It was on my bucket list.”

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Georgia: Dale Jackson, 36

“I was in Kentucky when Sen. Rand Paul announced his candidacy and I worked on his campaign.”

So you're still warming up the idea of Donald?

“I’m here for a totally different reason . . .the issue I’m passionate about is medical cannabis oil to treat my autistic son. . . I was up here last week trying to get it in the platform.”

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Hawaii: Nathan Paikai, 58

How are you liking Cleveland? “Cleveland showed me more aloha than some of my hometown.”

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Idaho: Jeff Thompson, 52

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Illinois: John Adkins, 51

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Indiana: D Jack Mahuron, 89

“This is my 10th convention.”

How has it compared to others?

“About the same except the security is more important now than it formerly was. We used to be able to come to the convention and walk out the door and go over to the shops and look all over around the city but we can't here.”

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Iowa: Westhenry Ioerger, 19

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Kansas: Dave Bohnenblust, 57

“I’m a Cruz supporter, but at this point I’m a Trump delegate, by our rules, until he releases me. I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Kentucky: Hal Rogers, 78

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Louisiana: Jeff Giles, 60

“This is just a suit but last night I did a Trump hat. I was the only delegation chairman to wear a Make America Great hat. That was style my friend; that was class.“

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Maine: Donna Hopkins, 65

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Maryland: Ben Marchi, 38

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Massachusetts: Jimmy Davidson, 27

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Michigan: Bill Parfet, 69

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Minnesota: Mary Susan, 52

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Mississippi: Wayne Tisdale, 68

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Missouri: Kendal Spooner, 22

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Montana: Eric Olsen, 64

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Nebraska: Governor Pete Ricketts, 51

“I want a very contested primary myself. I got elected a year and a half ago. There were six of us in my Republican primary and I will tell you it was a hard-fought contest, very competitive. . . It was rough, but the day after that primary every one of my opponents showed up at the unity rally to support me because that’s what you do when you have a nominee. You get on board and you support that person in the general election.”

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Nevada: Brek Greninger, 73

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

New Hampshire: Jason Osborne, 38

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

New Jersey: Bill Layton, 45

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

New Mexico: Rick Romero, 62

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

New York: Susan McNeil, 60

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

North Carolina: WIlliam Gillis, 31

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

North Dakota: Sandy Boehler

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Ohio: Betty Montgomery, 68

How do you feel personally about Trump?

“The verdict’s still out for me. I’m certainly not going to vote for Hillary Clinton, but Donald Trump is a brand-new candidate at the highest level he can be. . .I have a few months to see how he behaves on the national stage.”

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Oklahoma: Lori Reeder, 37

“Oklahoma has for many years done their best to be the best-dressed at the convention so they have their own jacket with a patch on it and you have coordinated outfits most days—some of them are optional.”

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Oregon: Nathan Dahlin, 31

“I’m a Cruz delegate. I’m still waiting to see what happens—try not to be hasty . . . Cruz had a sense of decency and honor and how he treated other people. I felt that he conducted himself with integrity and that he stood up for the issues that were important to me. He fought in the Senate for those seeking jobs no one else in the Senate would fight for.”

Is it hard to be a Cruz delegate here?

“It’s a little hard; there’s not really any Cruz merchandise to buy except what we brought with us. Mostly people are nice.”

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Pennsylvania: Thomas J. Ellis, 56

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Rhode Island: Gerry Zarrella, 70

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

South Carolina: Gene D'agostino, 66

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

South Dakota: Hal Wick, 71

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Tennessee: Linda D. Buckles, 66

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Texas: Erin Swanson, 31

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Utah: Peter Greathouse, 39

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Vermont: Suzanne Butterfield, 69

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Virginia: Senator Richard Black, 72

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Washington: Jeanne Congdon

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

West Virginia: Michael Baisden, 66

“My hat is my hard hat from work. That’s actually coal dust . . . I wore it for about 16 years in a coal mine. Whenever a sticker would get scratched I wouldn’t remove it, I’d just cover it with another. It probably weighs about 10 pounds more than it should but it’s my hard hat. . . . There’s probably a thousand dollars’ worth of stickers on that hat if you go through all the layers. I used to sell heavy equipment in the mining industry. It became [that] there was no return on my investment. I couldn’t make any money because of the downturn in the coal-mining industry, so I’m not doing that anymore.”